Group says at least 1,400 dogs injured and 100 killed at Wheeling Island since 2008

At Wheeling Island’s racetrack in Wheeling, W.Va., you can try your luck betting on live greyhound races five days a week. For some, it’s a form of entertainment that can end in a payout. But animal rights groups have been working for years to end greyhound racing. Internet videos -- often posted by animal rights groups working to end the spectator sport -- show greyhounds wiping out during races.

Action News reporter Matt Belanger reviewed hundreds of pages of records from the West Virginia Racing Commission detailing instances of greyhounds injured and killed at Wheeling Island. The records show, in 2011, greyhounds sustained at least 335 injuries. Those injuries are identified in the documents as “fractures," “dislocations” and “muscle injuries.” Injuries that are serious enough are labeled as “career ending.” The records indicate 25 dogs at Wheeling Island either died or were euthanized in 2011.

"It is one of their dirty little secrets,” said Carey Theil of the dog injuries and deaths at racetracks. "The records speak for themselves, when you have 103 dogs at Wheeling Island since 2008 that have died." Theil is executive director of GREY2K USA, a Massachusetts-based organization working to outlaw greyhound racing.

Instead, track officials issued a statement to Action News. "Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack has a long-standing reputation as a top-quality racing operation, and we take every step possible to provide a safe racing venue,” said Osi Imomoh, president and general manager of Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack, in the statement.

Supporters of the racing industry argue injuries and deaths occur in a small percentage of races, when you consider a track like Wheeling conducts more than 100 live races on race days.

"For greyhound breeders to look at that and say there's no problem there, I don't understand that. And I don't think mainstream Americans will understand that either,” Theil said.

Meanwhile, as the debate continues, Pittsburgh resident Marci Anderson has found a way to meet a need being created by the industry.“When their racing career is finished, we help move those greyhounds from the racetrack to a forever home,” Anderson said.

Anderson runs the organization Steel City Greyhounds, which works to rescue greyhounds who are deemed unfit for racing. She says, to date, the organization has connected more than 2,000 greyhounds with new owners, averaging about 60 a year."A lot of people do open their hearts and their homes to dogs like that,” Anderson said.